Ethics & International Affairs Committee

Former European and Mediterranean Affairs Committee

Former committee cease the activity. At the Bonn new elected council first meeting this committee and the the Ethics Committee merge into one, chaired by Judith Teszary. For more information see Ethics & International Affairs Committee.

Important messages from EAP

Many colleagues did already sign the Vienna Declaration dated 6th of December 2014 and we thank you all for your support. The list of supporters is increasing and we kindly invite all of you who did not already sign the declaration to follow our invitation.

The Vienna Declaration dated 6th of December 2014 was initially signed by all attendees of the Round Table “Crisis in the Ukraine – psychotherapeutic approaches“ and conveys the conviction and position for Psychotherapy in armed man made disasters, such as the Crisis in Ukraine.

You can support the declaration easily by using the direct link. You just need to click on the yellow button: “click here to sign the declaration“. Every support is highly appreciated. You are also welcomed to forward the invitation for support to your colleagues.

With much hope for peace and repair

Annette KreutzExternal relations officer EAP

The Training Accreditation Committee of EAP (TAC) published a leaflet that provides information about the possible accreditation as an European Accredited Psychotherapy Training Institute (EAPTI) and asks for support of NAOs and EWAOs.

Please find attached the electronic version of the EAPTI leaflet with kind request to spread this information among your member institutes in order to attract interest in an accreditation as an EAPTI.
This leaflet is available both as printed version and electronic version (PDF). Printed copies (for distribution at congresses etc.) can be ordered at any time from the EAP Head office, attn. Daniela Renner, mailto: eap.admin@europsyche.org

In addition, delegates of NAOs/EWAOs will have the chance to receive printed copies of leaflets in Vienna, during our EAP Board meetings (February 2014) – just watch out for Daniela, who will bring them to the venue of the meetings.

To facilitate disposal on site, you are welcome to inform me about the number of copies you would like to pick up – then I can prepare a small package for you in advance. Active advertisement (publication on website etc.) would be highly appreciated – thank you for your support. If there are any questions, you are always welcome to contact me.

1. EAP report to FEPTO Newsletter – 2014

The first meeting of 2014 was as usual February our venue Vienna. On this occasion the European Wide Organisation Committee, EWOC, organized a study day on the Thursday ahead of our Board meetings which began on Friday. This is the main committee where FEPTO as representation. The day was hosted by Gianni Fransetti and I. Our aim was to explore the specific competencies of each modality. The day was very well attended and we had presentations from 8 modalities including of course Psychodrama. We plan to repeat such events hopefully each time we meet in Vienna. It was a pleasure for me to welcome our colleague Sabine Kern who lives in Vienna.

The research committee of EAP held a study day on the Sunday and Hannes Krall came from Klagenfurt to represent FEPTO Research.

2014 being a year of the World Congress for Psychotherapy, this time meeting in South Africa, EAP did not arrange a summer Board meeting. EAP was represented by Alfred Pritz, General Secretary, and Eugenijus Laurinaitis, President and several of our EAP members.

October we met in Vilnius where our President, Eugenijus Laurinaitis had organized a three day Congress, “Where Art and Science Meet”. Our FEPTO Evaldas Karmaza kindly offered to attend a workshop I had was running, to aid with translation. Of course not too much translation was needed thanks to our wonderful visual method.

December EAP convened a round table to address the position of psychotherapist working in war torn Ukraine. The outcome of this meeting was “The Vienna Declaration” This document underlines the importance of the impartiality of the psychotherapist to work in troubled areas, currently Ukraine, but could also apply to Gaza or Syria right now and we are not to know what the future holds. The Declaration is available to read on the FEPTO Homepage and European Affairs section. Please read and sign if you feel you can.

February 2015 once again we met in Vienna. An important outcome from this meeting was the acceptance of the Pancyprian Associations for Psychotherapists, PAP, as an organizational member of EAP and the Umbrella organization for psychotherapy in Cyprus. This organization aims to not only bring together the psychotherapists practicing in Greek Cyprus but have opened a dialogue with their colleagues in the northern Turkish Area.

On a personal note our next meeting is June in Athens when I end my period as President Elect and take on the Role of President for the next two years.

Celia Scanlan

2. European Affairs Committee, Training Committee, and Development Committee meeting in Obidos

Reijo and Norbert opened the meeting. Development committee organizes Thinktanks. Norbert suggested the next one could be joint with the training committee. The results of the AM-work in small groups were presented. It is clear that core competencies of psychodrama trainers connected to Research and Promotion are the activities, which the FEPTO community marked as most in need of attention.

Below is a list of some shared thinking:

What competencies does a trainer need in different application fields of psychodrama? How to balance competencies in psychodrama psychotherapy and competencies in the special field?

There could / should be a training to become a psychodrama trainer.

What would employers / organizations benefit or gain from sending their employees to psychodrama training?

What competencies do students gain in psychodrama training?

A traditional way to support psychodrama is to experience psychodrama. How to promote psychodrama in other and new ways?

What kind of competencies in promotion does the trainer need to be able to teach students to practice psychodrama in a way that promotes psychodrama? And to train students to promote psychodrama in other ways, too?

How to support trainers to deepen their theoretical understanding of psychodrama?

These formed the starting point to explore in practice with the group themes of trainer’s competencies, students competencies, and organizations in a systemic way. The group used chairs, and used relatiometrics to make visible these themes. Here is a picture of relatiogram, which was done in 15 minutes:

The outcomes will be used and further explored and developed in committees (processes), which maybe will continue in next AM (if the council so decides). We ended the meeting by agreeing to meet twice before the next AM:

Thinktank (organized by Development Committee) in September / early October, 2014 (in Helensburgh (Scotland) or Estonia)

Training Committee meeting in January, 2015 (perhaps in Estonia).

In both meetings the themes of trainer’s core competencies (especially Promotion and Research) will be connected to trainee’s competences and the benefits and gains psychodrama training provides to organizations and the whole society.
Norbert will doodle dates for Thinktank, after that Reijo will doodle dates to Training Committee meeting. Paola and Marco couldn’t be present in this training committee meeting, but they are preparing a survey about theory and basic psychodrama concepts.

Celia had news: EAP is defining the specific competencies of a psychodrama psychotherapist. She would ask all institutes to define the specific competencies for example with their students. Material and help is available from Celia. (We could make this on project in Training Committee?)

We found the outcomes of this meeting inspiring and energizing, and they give us hope, too. And what we are doing just now with competencies, is what institutes need. We warmly thank the participants of this meeting for ideas and taking part in this process – and for energy and joy!

3. European Affairs Committee report for Lisbon 2014

This has been a busy year for me at EAP. I hope the result has been the increasing recognition of Psychodrama on the European Stage.

In my last report I announced that I had been successfully elected as Vice President of EAP. Since the election in Moscow much of my energy has gone into familiarising myself with this new “Role” and shadowing the President as I warm up to that “Role” which I will step into July 2015.

In October we met in Larnaca, Cyprus. Psychotherapy in Cyprus is rather fragmented with little co-operation between local organisations. EAP agreed to hold their meetings in Cyprus with a wish to offer an event where all would be welcome. Indeed it served exactly this purpose with all local organisations participating. A delicate path but we have taken some tiny steps. I was delighted to be able to meet with our psychodrama colleague, Ebru Cakici, from the Turkish sector of Cyprus. Ebru is hopeful that her institute will soon be in the position to apply for membership of FEPTO.

Last weekend our venue was once again Vienna. We had agreed in the European Wide Organisation Committee of which I am the co-chair that we would hold a study day on specific competencies. This is a huge subject. We agreed to make a small start to define specific competencies by addressing the Therapeutic relationship. Gianni Francesetti the President of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy and I, co-facilitated this event. We had seven presenters each from a different modality. The format of the day was a presentation of around 30 minutes with 15 minutes discussion. A packed schedule which, I think, we held to reasonably well. We ended the day with buzz groups and a plenary of our work. One participant has agreed to collate the papers from the presentations and another participant kept brief process notes which hopefully together will provide a clear sense of our work. I shall distribute them in due course.

Gianni Francesetti reported that Gestalt Therapy has completed and published the project they undertook to define the specific competencies of a Gestalt Therapist. Gianni has given a link to the EAGT website www.eagt.org Go to downloads. The file is called “Professional Competencies and Quality Standards”. I hope this will be a launch pad for FEPTO. It is vital now that we undertake the task of defining our specific competencies.

It was a great pleasure for me to welcome our psychodrama colleague Sabine Kern to the study day. Sabine lives in Vienna so this made it practical for her to attend. I love her enthusiasm for what we are doing and hope that together we might carry this into FEPTO.

Friday and Saturday were our regular committee days. I shall highlight the main themes of this work.

The situation in Ukraine was a painful theme throughout the weekend. We returned again and again to how we might support our psychotherapist colleagues working under such difficult circumstances. There was no clear solution found. I hope at least they have returned home with the emotional support of colleagues throughout Europe.

We elected a new External Relations officer, Annette Kreuz. It seemed she was up and working the moment she was elected. Already she has produced a fact sheet to assist delegates in any dialogue with politicians. This year will be the election year for the European Parliament. We need incoming MEP’s support for the recognition of psychotherapy in Europe.

Heward Wilkinson from UK addressed the full Board with a presentation entitled, “The Positioning of Psychotherapy in Europe.” Unfortunately this presentation is only available as an audio version. I am currently trying to get a written version and if so will distribute this to our members in FEPTO

For Sunday morning a half day study session was planned. Omar Gelo from the Sigmund Freud University, Vienna was the presenter. I was unable to attend but I am delighted to say that Hannes Krall came from Klagenfurt to take part. I look forward to a summary of this from Hannes.

Celia Scanlan

4. The Position of Psychodrama on the European Stage

During the AM in Santander the European Affairs Committee was attended by Kate Bradshaw Tauvon and me. It often occurs that few people attend this meeting which is understandable as there are many other committees where our members have an interest. As a committee it is important that we find a way to spend real time together. In the event on this occasion I was able to spend time acquainting Kate with the workings of EAP as this was her first every FEPTO meeting. It was important to make this link as Kate is also very involved with IAGP. We agreed that we would try to find ways of making connections between the three groups.

July 2013 – I attended the Board meetings of EAP which were held in July in Moscow in conjunction with the First United Eurasian Psychotherapy Congress. “Psychotherapy without Borders” The Congress was extremely well attended and a very full programme was provided. Unfortunately I was unable to participate to any degree in the Congress as the majority of the EAP meetings were scheduled to take place in the same time space as Congress workshops.

A working group of EAP has been very active over the past few years with a project to define the Core Competencies of a Psychotherapist. This work is an important aspect of the long term goal that Psychotherapy is seen as an independent profession. The final document was accepted at the AGM in Moscow. Some FEPTO members have contributed to the online survey which was distributed during this project. I thank those of you who participated in this valuable work. The next stage of the project will be to define the competencies specific to each modality. I hope within the next few months to send details of how to participate and I urge you all to take part in this activity. This will be an opportunity to tell the wider world of psychotherapy what it is exactly that differentiates a psychodramatist from other psychotherapies. Watch this space!

I thank the members of the working group for their commitment to this project. I would like to mention that our colleague Rene Oudijk is a member of this group.

In February 2014, EAP have planned a day to meet with user groups, our external affairs officer Maria Munoz Grandes, psychodramatist, has already made contact with many such user groups.

It is hoped to run a one day workshop, possibly the day before the Board meetings in Vienna February 2014 to which Omar Gelo would be invited. I will confirm this plan as soon as I am able. FEPTO members are welcome to participate and I hope that we can have representation from our now well established FEPTO Research Committee.

Elections were held this year at the AGM in Moscow. I am pleased to tell you that I was elected as Vice President. This will be in effect a 6 year commitment which I feel I have the energy to undertake and look forward to maintaining the profile of FEPTO within this setting.

Celia Scanlan

P.S. I will call the photograph below “A Chance Encounter” I was walking on Red Square after the Moscow meeting when I came across this young woman with two friends. She had just graduated as a medical doctor. We got talking and she came very alive when I told her what I had been doing in Moscow. She became very animated saying, “I need now to decide my speciality and I have been thinking about Psychiatry, now I know”

5. Traveling without map and compass

During the period I have been Chair of this committee I have reflected on how best to honour the responsibility given to me; how to use the knowledge and experience of others who have worked on this committee in the past; bring in new committee members but above all to build a strong psychodramatic bridge between FEPTO and our psychotherapy colleagues across Europe.
At first Judith Teszáry and I thought that we might share attendance at EAP meetings. I had taken over the role from Judith. Very soon it became clear to me that I would never really come to grips with what was happening at EAP if I was not in fact present at every meeting. It was agreed at Council that I should indeed attend all of the meetings delegating only if it was impossible for some reason for me to attend.

This resolved one problem but did not address another. It is hard to keep a committee motivated if there is little for them to do as individuals. So how to make this committee a live experience? For a period of about three years we had a steady stream of candidates applying for ECP through the grandparenting scheme. Documents required scrutiny, best done by at least two people. So rather than Judith and I being the only ones to take on this task we sent files to additional committee members. We had begun to involve the committee so that they might learn more of the workings and value of EAP. As usual nothing stays as it is for long, in the past year we have only had one ECP application through grandparenting. Not that Psychodramatists have ceased to apply for ECP but we now have some institutes who have accrediting status, EAPTI. These institutes can give ECP by direct award which reduces the paperwork for our committee.

I issued an invitation to FEPTO members to come with me to EAP as an observer if and when a meeting was in their country. This could be managed at no added cost and would offer an opportunity to see the work first hand and indeed to prepare someone to take over the role in a more informed way when the day comes when I will no longer be the delegate. This has had limited success but the offer remains open so in July the meeting will take place in Moscow and in October in Larnica. Please contact me if, you live in either country, and wish to accompany me to the EAP meeting. I continue to encourage involvement of FEPTO delegates at EAP.

Returning to my initial thoughts of how to build a strong bridge, by which I mean, it is important that FEPTO not only looks inward at how we might constantly improve our knowledge and skills and how we teach our students but, I believe we must look outwards to strengthen our links with other psychotherapists. Just as FEPTO was conceived to support psychodrama trainers in Europe we can reach out and support psychotherapy in Europe. A tremendous amount of work has been done at EAP to establish psychotherapy as an independent profession in Europe. We have had minor success and sadly some failures but never given up. Our hopes were raised that a common platform for psychotherapy could be established through Brussels. This was unsuccessful not through any lack of diligence on the part of EAP but as a result of the complexity of procedures of the European Parliament.

We did not lose heart but simply changed tack. A working group has been formed to establish core competencies of a psychotherapist. This has not been an easy project, we might say it was not sexy enough to attract participants, nonetheless it has progressed and the first stage Is now nearing completion. A small project group has worked directly on this and it is important to mention that one of these people is our FEPTO colleague, Renee Oudijk. I would like to give my personal thanks to Renee for the hours of work she has expended on this project.
Very soon I shall be writing to all FEPTO members to take part in the second stage of this project.
I believe this will be the most important stage: ‘the Specific Competencies’ It is essential that FEPTO members respond to the online questionnaire otherwise psychodrama is in danger of being overlooked.

I have come to realise the best way to have psychodrama firmly on the European stage of psychotherapy is for the FEPTO delegate to become really active at EAP. To that end three years ago I was nominated and agreed to become an “International Expert” This rather grand title meant that I would have the task of making an accreditation visits to institutes applying for EAPTI status. During this process of accreditation an institute is visited by two experts, one trained in he modality of the institute and another. If there is no expert for the modality then someone is appointed whose modality is close to that of the institute. We now have three psychodramatists who are international experts which ensures hat if a psychodrama institute applies for EAPTI it should be possible for the institute to be visited by a psychodramatist.

Continuing with my belief that it is essential to be involved if we are to be respected, last February I took on the role of Co-Chair of the European Wide Organisation Committee EWOC. This is the section of EAP where FEPTO are members. The role keeps me busy as we examine the applications from institutes applying for EWO status. Our constant task is to balance a wish to support new ventures in psychotherapy with the necessity of maintaining good standards.
In July EAP will convene in Moscow. Elections for the President who will take over in 2015. The person who is elected will serve as Vice-President for two years, President for two and Past President for two, a commitment of 6 years. I intend to stand for this role. I hope you can send me plenty positive vibes.
So as you can see I am kept very busy, I love this work but I never lose sight of the fact that I am here because FEPTO has sent me and that when I speak, especially from a position of authority, I speak as a psychodramatist.

Celia Scanlan
Written while on my return flight from Vienna Sunday 17th February 2013

6. Report of the EAP Valencia Congress, 4th – 8th July 2012

Improving Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing in EuropeThe congress approached the subject of Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing by grouping the varying arenas within which psychotherapy operates; Prevention of depression and suicide; Mental health in the workplace; Mental health in youth and education; Combating stigma and exclusion; Mental health in older people.

Each section had invited keynote speakers followed by presentation of papers or workshops. I presented a workshop “assessment in action-the first encounter” In this workshop my aim was to demonstrate that by assessing in action the client has a choice of what to show or not and I believe gains a greater degree of autonomy thus shifting the focus from illness to wellbeing.
Within this section I attended a presentation by Dr Cristina Dobrowolski whose work is as a family therapist working with families who have a history of suicide. Her focus was between the inner world of each family member and the outer interactive reality. She presented a video of her work and I was yet again impressed with the fact that, despite much variety of training, there are often overlaps in the way we work as psychotherapists. I found myself thinking during her presentation of the role repertoires of this family and wondering where it would have led had we explored this avenue.

The president of EAP, Aidrian Rhodes gave a thought provoking talk on “Integration with Integrity” His wife Catherine then gave a presentation, “Psychotherapist as a Gardener” a delightful presentation of her work using this metaphor she described the need for development, nurturing and above all patience. Prof. Snezana Milenkovic presented “Whose well being are psychotherapists most interested in?” A challenge to psychotherapists to use psychotherapy to change not only our clients but society. I think Dr Moreno would have been in agreement with Snezana.

This is I hope a brief glimpse into a full and enlightening congress.
The final two days were given over to the committee work of EAP. The first occasion that I was chairing a committee. A baptism by fire! as this was the European Wide Accreditation Committee, EWAC. The section which directly involves FEPTO. Our main task for this occasion was to scrutinise the scientific validity of an applying organisation. My experience of this work is that it is a thorough process where decisions are not made lightly. This for me is re-assuring that such important decisions are treated with care. During this meeting I was nominated as the permanent member of EWAC to the Training Committee. I accepted this nomination as I believe this is a forum where psychodrama should be represented.

The Core Competencies project continues although the first stage is nearing completion there is still time to go to the EAP site and click on Core Competencies and complete this important study. There is a long and a short route. It is fine to complete the short route. Everyone who completes this first stage will have a voice when the second stage begins which is about Specific Competencies. It is vital that psychodrama is clearly represented. Numbers will count so please it is not enough to leave this to the EAP representative.
The next meeting is in Edinburgh, 19th & 20th October hosted by myself and a Body Psychotherapist colleague, Courtenay Young.

Celia Scanlan

7. Report of Vienna EAP meeting, February 2012

I attended the Meeting 17th & 18th February together with our colleague Michael Wieser who returned to EAP after several years of absence. I welcome Michael for many reasons including, his knowledge of EAP workings, his interest in research and in the journal. He has offered his services to the advisory panel of the International Journal. There is also the very practical reason, that Michael lives in Austria therefore it is relatively inexpensive for him to attend the two days.
We have both provided a report. We did attend some sessions together but also availed ourselves of this opportunity to represent FEPTO in several different forums.
There were two main issues running through the meetings. The first being clearly structured time to explore the future of EAP. The second was concerning the ongoing project on Core Competencies.

The Future of EAP

I found myself wondering if the idea to explore this issue had come from events of the past year. It was only last February in Vienna we celebrated with our dear friend and colleague Serge Ginger, his retirement from EAP. Sadly Serge died in October 2011. Serge, a founder member of EAP had seemingly limitless energy for our work. He was however prudent and found a successor as registrar ahead of his retirement. I wonder how many of us have the courage to face that change and hand over of role. The first board meeting of 2012 began with a ten minute reflection on the life and work of Serge. The assembly then moved into small groups and we spent the next hour exploring the issue of the future of EAP. Our remit was to prepare a summary to present to the full board at our next session. We would have a limited time to do this presentation. I will summarise the small group where I participated. With 10 minutes left of our hour we had many ideas, 12 in total. The question was how to reflect this work in the large group. Sociometry came into it’s own when I suggested using this method, which to us psychodramatists is a tried and tested method. Not only did this bring order into our work I believe we were somewhat surprised by the issues which emerged as priority. I think this brief exercise opened the minds of several of my colleagues to psychodrama. I believe the outcome of the total exercise has given the executive a clear sense of the hopes and aspirations of EAP.

The Core Competencies Project

I have written in the FN in the past about this project. The first stage is well underway but it is still not too late to sign up to complete the questionnaire. I will not hide the fact that it is rather long, although there is the option of doing a shorter version. The full version will take I think a day to complete the shorter one perhaps 2/3 hours. This is an important project for the future of psychotherapy in Europe. If we as psychotherapists can define what we do, our competencies, apart from presenting ourselves professionally, we are less at risk of an outside agency deciding for us. That I believe would be very bad news. I said that this is the first stage. The second stage is to define specific competencies. At this point we as psychodramatists have the opportunity to define what it is that distinguishes us from other psychotherapists. This is vital as we may well be asked by health authorities and social security organisations to explain why our work is required rather than some brief intervention which is a less expensive option for the authorities. Please go to the EAP website and sign up for this project.

8. Initiative at EAP/A brief report from Rome, October 2011

I have just returned from Rome where I attended the EAP committee and Board meetings of EAP. Rather than give a detailed report of all of the committees I attended I thought I would pick out the 2 most important issues.

Firstly Mony Elkaim and a lawyer Annik Lambert from Belgium have been working for 5 years to establish a common platform for psychotherapy in Europe. Sadly it became apparent last year that this approach would not bear fruit. Mony and Annik remained undaunted but changed tack. Annik has now prepared a detailed document entitled “Directive on Professional Qualification”. This is in response to the European Commission, Department for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, who producing a consultative document on this subject.

This document must be submitted by this Thursday so I have taken the liberty of reading it on behalf of FEPTO and sending my positive response to Annik. I believe she is doing a splendid job on behalf of European Psychotherapy. No doubt I will report on the outcome in due course.
More > Directive on Professional Qualifications

The second important matter is that EAP have had a sub committee looking at the issue of Core Competencies of a Psychotherapist. The outcome of this document could be an important addition to the work of Annik and Mony. This is a task that we can, and I implore do, get involved in undertaking. I may have sent this to some of you some weeks back however I shall forward it yet again and ask if you cannot personally find time to undertake this task please do delegate it to someone in your organisation. I will await your response before sending it to all of our membership. For this work to have credibility it needs a ground swell of involvement.
More > Core Competencies

One last matter, in the great scheme of things, less important. I can report that on Saturday I was elected as Co-Chair of the European Wide Accreditation Committee. I am delighted that as a psychodramatist I am able to hold such a role and continue to put psychodrama firmly on the European Psychotherapy Stage.

9. Report of the EAP meeting, February 2011

1) On Friday morning I attended the membership committee where I am the nominated member from The European Wide Accrediting Organisations (EWAO). While EAP works hard to be inclusive they nonetheless are diligent in examining the criteria for membership. On this occasion there were 2 organisations that did not appear to meet the criteria for membership. Rather than refuse their applications immediately these organisations have been invited to attend the next meeting, Rome in October, when they will have the opportunity to respond to the concerns of EAP. I have witnessed this process in the past and found it to be useful often with a positive result where the applying organisations were accepted and have since become very involved members.
2) Coinciding with the Membership committee, the Training committee met, I was not able to attend both meetings. However during the Training Committee session I, Celia, was accepted as an International Expert (IE). An IE is a person deemed capable of using their expertise to scrutinise an institute applying for European Accrediting Psychotherapy Training Institute (EAPTI) status. Such EAPTI’s have the authority to give direct ECP Awards. FEPTO have 2 EAPTI’s. One in Serbia and one in Norway. I would encourage institutes to consider applying for this status as gaining an ECP by this method is much more straightforward and allows for ease of movement around Europe for ECP holders.
There are 20 IE’s three of whom are Psychodramatists; Rene Oudijk, Ivana Slavkovic and myself, Celia Scanlan.
3) At the EWOC an item was raised to which I must attend as soon as possible. On the EAP website there is a brief description of the modalities which have EWAO status. FEPTO does not have such a description I will provide this in the near future.
4) There were 2 sessions of the Board during over the weekend. Ivana Slavkovic was formally elected as the Registrar for EAP. I personally was delighted with this outcome as Ivana has already put in much work as Deputy Registrar to acquaint herself with the enormous task of the Registrar and we at FEPTO can be proud that a young psychodramatist has been seen to have the qualities this post requires.
5) While I did not attend the committee for National Umbrella Organisations (NUO), as I said there is a limit to how many committees can be attended, Rene Oudijk is a member of this committee. Rene encourages FEPTO members to get involved in their NUO’s so that they can speak for psychodrama in the wider arena.
6) I cannot end this report without mentioning something which gave me great satisfaction since it relates to the root of the work I do at EAP. For this past year I have been corresponding with a Hungarian psychodramatist who is living in UK and is unable to practice in UK without his ECP. It was proving difficult to gain this as he appeared to fall between 2 stools. The Hungarian and UK systems. Judith Teszáry and I had scrutinised his application and found him to be well above the minimum requirements of EAP. However it took much persistence on my part and a great deal of dialogue with various committees before I was ready to take his case to the Grandparenting committee (GAP) They were completely in agreement with our assessment and he has been awarded ECP. Now he can gain entry onto the British Psychodrama Association (BPA) and United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) registers. This legitimises his practice in UK and just as importantly connects him with the psychodrama community in UK.
7) Our next Meeting is in Rome October 2011.

10. EAP report Paris meeting October 2010

I will give my report for Paris 2010, in the form of my reflections on the thoughts stirred in me following the Paris meeting.

There has been a dialogue between EAP and the European parliament where EAP has been striving to have psychotherapy recognised as a profession. This is a vital issue as you may already know many countries only recognise psychiatrists and psychologists and therefore these are the only people employable in hospitals or are recognised by private insurers. As with, it would appear, most tasks of the European parliament this is an extremely slow process. It did look as though we were working towards a common platform for psychotherapy, this project seems to have come to an impasse. However the delegates from EAP are not to be daunted and continue to knock at the door. As individuals we can contribute to this process by getting to know our European Parliamentary Members, speaking to them about the status of psychotherapy and by contacting either myself or EAP head office if you feel that we might get support from an individual member.

It is no surprise to me that this is the first issue I address as over the past year I have had ongoing dialogue with 3 psychodrama practitioners and initial enquiries from many others seeking to work in a European country other than where they gained their diploma. European law says this is possible but in practice it is a minefield. I continue to dialogue on their behalf.

I left the Paris meeting with a sense that there is a way through.

Much work has been done at EAP to put the “house” in order.

A working party has been looking at defining more clearly the roles of the Executive Board and seeking clarity on Elections to this Board.

There is a committee seeking to build the public image of psychotherapy. How do we define ourselves?
Can we show evidence of our efficacy?
What are our minimum standards both quantity and quality?
Have the many research projects undertaken by psychotherapists been collated and gaps in research been noted and attended to?

There is a strong sense that different modalities have a wish to come together, to network with each other in order to present ourselves professionally. Can we find a way to stand together with our colleagues enjoying our similarities and respecting difference? I believe until we can do that psychotherapy will struggle to be taken seriously by the medical profession.

I am delighted to report that psychodrama is well respected at EAP by the Registrar elect Ivana Slovkoic. She will take over this post in February at the Vienna meeting.

The Norsk Psykodrama-Akademi, NPI has been awarded EAPTI status, the consequence of this is that their graduates have automatic right to ECP on completion of their training.

For my own part, I was invited, and have submitted my CV to be considered as an International Specialist for TAC. This all sounds very grand but indeed the task involves visiting institutes who are applying for EAPTI status. This would be an extension of a role I have held in Britain for the past 12 years. In agreeing to this, apart from the personal professional interest I have in the work, I consider it important that psychodrama is represented as a modality which seeks to achieve the best possible standards for it’s members.

We continue to subscribe to and receive all the issues of the International Journal. We must decide where we stand with this matter as to not subscribe is to default on part of our annual subscription.

11. EAP meeting and congress “Crisis, Change or Challenge”

Bucharest 29th June – 4th July

I returned late Sunday evening from the EAP meetings and congress in Bucharest. No problems on this trip with volcanic ash.
It has been my habit to make a priority committees relating to training and awarding of ECP.

On this occasion I began with the Training and Accreditation Committee, TAC. I was particularly concerned about the use of ECP and how to deal with the issue of recipients practising in countries other than where they obtained their diploma. I am aware that there is a problem in Britain and wondered if this was so in other member countries. One thing was clarified for me. It would appear to be useful if an ECP holder gained adequate insurance in the country where they qualified. I very much wish to support practitioners to obtain the right to practice Europe wide as this is their right within the European Convention on Human Rights..

It emerged that it is common in western Europe where the National Accrediting Organisations , NAO’s, who themselves are members of EAP, are guilty of not accepting ECP holders who migrate to their country. This concern is being addressed on many levels e.g. by Albina Colden who is doing research on this very subject and who invited us to complete a personal questionnaire of our experience. By Renee Oudjik who raised it as a question to the committee which was taken forward to at the Board and by myself as I am debating this with British Psychodrama Association, BPA. I am certain there are others. We have not ignored this issue which is vital to many practitioners who wish/ or must move to another country within the EU. We are encouraged by the test case of an Italian who gained his qualification outside of Italy since he did not meet the stringent requirements of that country. In Italy as with several EU countries only medical doctors or psychologists can train and practice as psychotherapists. This Italian took Italy to Strasbourg and won the case but did not immediately gain the right. After some 10 years it was resolved when the Italian government created a separate register for “Psychotherapist non medical” Our afore mentioned colleague was the only entry!. I am delighted to report that we now have 3 names on this register. As the register grows my hope is that the public looking for a therapist will access this register and no longer confine themselves to the medical model.
The next committee I attended was the European Wide Organisation Committee, EWOC

This was an extremely important event for me as it was there that I had to represent FEPTO in their re-application as a European Wide Accrediting Organisation, EWAOC. I was extremely nervous feeling I had the weight of FEPTO on my shoulders. In the event I should have saved myself the anx. I presented the documents which had previously been read by 2 scrutineers. I was invited to leave the forum while a debate and vote would take place. Some 30 seconds later, it seemed, I was invited back and welcomed for a further 5 years. So yes we passed the scrutiny. I have in the past sat through long debates for such applications so I congratulate FEPTO for the esteem in which we appear to be held by our colleagues at EAP.

At this committee I agreed to attend the membership committee as an official delegate of EWOC and will take up this task from the next meeting in October.
I attended for a short time the grand parenting committee, GAP, as an observer. I feel it is useful to continually familiarise myself with this process. However after listening to applications which are not straightforward and how GAP deals with these the committee moved on to more routine applications at which point I excused myself.
There remain the board meetings which are essentially a venue to summarise the work of the committees before the AGM takes place. These I attended and contributed hopefully keeping psychodrama visible.
The AGM, as with most organisations, AGM presents a forum for dissatisfaction to be aired. EAP is no different but I have been impressed by the willingness to listen to and seek a resolution to items raised. On this occasion a change in the statutes was accepted. This was the result of dissatisfaction raised last year. The statutes can be viewed on the EAP website.

I am delighted that we have a psychodramatist, Ivana Slavkovic from Serbia , as Registrar Elect. She will take up her post as Registrar when Serge Ginger retires next February. Ilana has shadowed Serge for the past two years and I believe is well informed of the task ahead.

As I read my report I have a sense that I have not dealt in depth with any particular issue. If I were to do this my report would cover many pages and I doubt we would have the energy to read and try to understand this. I therefore ask you to trust that I am doing my best to follow the process of EAP with the interest of FEPTO top of my agenda and whenever possible to make these known.
The second part of our gathering was the congress, “Crisis, Change or Challenge”

I had come to this congress believing that this would deal with issue such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change and last but not least the world economic crisis.
In the event the emerging topic was family crisis. Maybe the old adage, “first put your own house in order” still holds true.

We were led in the opening plenary by Giovanni Boria assisted by Radu Vulcu and his colleagues from the Romanian Association of Classical Psychodrama. A delight to see the Master at work as he created a sociometric mix. Much fun, yet deep enough for us to experience our reaction to crisis without a crisis arising in the group.
While the workshops were informative I was struck by the absence of Psychodrama apart from the opening plenary, although many references were made to psychodrama and often aspects were demonstrated under another name. I will endeavour to change this for next time!

As I close I still have in my mind an experience at Bucharest Airport as I was returning home. There were many, perhaps 100 young American men and women. In uniform, looking tense, perhaps even afraid. I heard no laughter many stood alone lost in their own thoughts. My colleague David Mearns asked were they going on tour and he was given a quiet nod and a “Yes Sir”. He asked no more. He and I wondered what Crisis, Change or Challenge these young people faced. We felt certain that it would sadly be life changing.

12. Report from European Affairs Committee 2009 – 2010

Since The General Assembly I am delighted to report that the European Affairs Committee has doubled in size with Marjorie Lapstreur and Sirrka Varonen joining Judith Teszáry and myself. We must not forget Pierre Fontaine who remains as a fount of wisdom and Renee Oudijk who attends EAP as a national delegate but none the less flies the flag for psychodrama.
What to do with this wealth of talent?

My intention was to involve the new members by inviting them to read and give opinions on applications for ECP that come to our committee for verification. I sent Marjorie and Sirrka copies of the requirement documents to begin to familiarise themselves with this process. To quote Scotland’s national Bard, Robert Burns, “the best laid schemes, o’ Mice an’ Men, gang aft aglay” Since doing this we have had no applications for ECP. Not to worry I am aware that there is one in the pipeline.

I continue to struggle with how to involve the committee in the work of EAP which is an essential meeting place to network with European psychotherapists.

How to plan for succession?
I have encouraged our committee members to attend their National Umbrella Organisations (NUO) where they can speak for psychodrama. Indeed I would so encourage to all FEPTO members. Please do get involved in your NUO’s.
Incidentally, it was great to meet with so many FEPTO members at the IAGP congress in Rome last August.

Judith Teszáry attended the Graz meeting of EAP in my stead since I was committed with family business at that time. I thank Judith for doing this but am aware that the arrangement we have is not entirely satisfactory. The work that happens in EAP is varied and at times appears complex. It is only from attending on a regular basis that I begin to feel I am understanding what is happening and that I can use my voice effectively. Although it is financially impractical that we send 2 delegates to each meeting. I have a suggestion. Perhaps I could notify FEPTO members living in or near a proposed venue for a meeting. It is possible to join, the delegate, on a daily basis for that session. This would aid understanding of what EAP aims to achieve and may mean that a new delegate to EAP has some prior understanding of its workings.

Remember this is a useful way to gain CPD. To that end I give you the dates of the next few meetings;
Bucharest 30th June – 5th July 2010
Paris 8th & 9th October 2010
Vienna 19th & 20th February 2011 (to be confirmed)
Rome October 2011 (date to be confirmed)

Vienna conference and EAP meetings: The conference entitled “The political and legal status of psychotherapists from a professionals and clients protection point of view in the European Union” took place on, Thursday 18th & Friday 19th Feb 2010

I think this venture was a first for European psychotherapy in that it brought together not only psychotherapists but politicians, scientist, lawyers and civil servants from many countries within Europe.

Pressure of work restricted me to attending only on Friday morning since; I arrived late Thursday evening in Vienna. I was however in time to join my colleagues for dinner hosted by the city of Vienna. We were greeted by the Chief Psychiatrist of Vienna. He commented to our General Secretary Alfred Pritz that he was amazed at the energy of the group, normally when he undertakes such a duty he meets with a lethargic group. I regretted being unable to attend the full conference since Friday morning confirmed that I had missed something special.

This session began promptly at 9.00, another first for psychotherapy? The program indicated that we would have 15 minute presentations with a short coffee break and ending at 12.30 for lunch. I could not imagine how I could sit through so many presentations. How wrong I was! We were given an enormously varied insight into the similarities and differences of practising psychotherapy across Europe and the pros and cons of governmental legislation. I was humbled to listen to the struggles of many European countries to establish the right to practice psychotherapy and to develop training programs. I was confirmed in my belief that it is essential that we develop a European platform for psychotherapy. I now understood the buzz I had experienced on Thursday evening and was assured by my colleagues that Thursday had been just as enlightening and enlivening. There is an intention to collate the information from this conference and use it as a tool to inform us where each country stands on the European map. How can we help each other to achieve better standards? Serge Ginger has written an excellent paper outlining the purpose of this conference. If anyone would like a copy of this paper please email me.
Thursday and Friday all in all were a good warm up to the next two days of committee work.

There are many and varied tasks for the EAP committees. It is impossible to attend all. I attended the European wide accrediting committee, EWAC (we at FEPTO are a European wide accrediting organization.) It is heartening to know that this committee continues to strive to find a balance between ensuring that standards are maintained while encouraging the development of modalities.
FEPTO should have submitted their re-application as an EWAO to this committee, however I have negotiated an extension till July when we meet in Bucharest. I have been and will continue to contact our institutes over the next few months as I work to collate the information about training standards. While almost all of our institutes meet FEPTO’s MTS you may remember Pierre Fontaine telling us that we needed to reach higher. The MTS of FEPTO is 880 hours. The MTS of EAP is 1400. We already have several institutes who reach or are beyond this figure, sufficient number of institutes to comply with the re-application, however in order that trainees are in a position to apply for ECP, my advice is that we work towards that higher figure.

The EWOC continues to work on the Core Competencies. As Judith reported after the Graz meeting, FEPTO have a part to play in this work and Judith Teszáry suggests a working group for this, she wishes to be part of this group. I would support this request of Judith as she is the competent person to lead such a group.

I also attended the Membership Committee. This committee works to achieve good standards among new applicants. It is by having such standards, psychotherapy in Europe will be seen as a legitimate profession.

There has been an ongoing problem about the Journal distribution. I spoke to Tom Ormay who is confident that he now has a distribution system in place. If we supply 3 addresses he will ensure that they are delivered. There is a wish to distribute the Journal as widely as possible. To this end the Executive has decided to send a free copy to all individual members and ECP holders. At this point in time EAP cannot afford to make this free to organizations who will continue to pay. This is a requirement of their ongoing membership.

I draw your attention to the possibility of our training institutes applying to become European Accrediting Psychotherapy Training Institutes EAPTI. This means that trainees, graduating from such an Institute, have a right to an automatic ECP. Currently psychodrama has only one EAPTI and one other in the process of applying.

13. EAP Lisbon Congress 2009

The first 2 days of congress were EAP Committee meetings.

I have been asked to scrutinise several applications for ECP over the past year. In particular applicants coming through the grandparenting system. I have been concerned at the poor quality of some of these applications and was therefore interested to attend the GAP to ascertain the level of scrutiny of other modalities. In the event I was satisfied that a good level is required and indeed several applications were returned with recommendations to improve the submission.

There is an ongoing debate about the voting system at EAP. You will have read Judith’s report. It appears that change will happen and that discussion is scheduled for February in Vienna.

Much work is being done by EAP to establish a European platform and this is being met positively in Brussels. The purpose of this is to protect psychotherapy as a profession.

We need to begin the process of re-accreditation. I am happy to manage this with the EAP committee.

The EWOC are about to launch a campaign to accrediting status. They are asking that we provide contact details for all of our training institutes.

We should decide now at Dave who we will designate as recipients of the journal and submit these addresses to the editor. Michael Wieser’s university library pays for one.
I believe we should allocate the other 2 copies to roles rather than persons.

There is no question that we pay until we are regularly receiving copies.

Following there committees we had the opportunity to attend a variety if workshops. It is important to note that FEPTO was ably represented by Manuela Maciel who presented an excellent workshop.

Ongoing EAP work: This year we have scrutinised several applications for ECP and one application for European Training Institute accreditation. Status. Until now this work has been done by myself and Judith (Teszary) I hope to begin to involve the 2 new members of the EAP Committee..
I am unclear how FEPTO will receive payment for this work so hope to clarify this at Dave.

A Project to Establish the Professional Competencies of a European Psychotherapist. Download doc